A Washington law firm has petitioned the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for "crimes against humanity", including the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
The petition was handed over to the ICC prosecutor in July and was only announced on Wednesday, the first anniversary of Khashoggi's death.
Khashoggi, 59, was killed a year ago by a team of Saudi agents at their country's consulate in Istanbul. His body has not yet been found.
Saudi Arabia has consistently denied that bin Salman ordered the killing, but UN special investigator Agnes Kalamar said there was "credible evidence" indicating the crown prince's responsibility and warranting further investigation, while the CIA concluded that The prince is probably the one who ordered the murder.
The United States-based law firm Finn & Dellef has asked the prosecutor to petition the UN Security Council to refer the Crown Prince's alleged crimes to the ICC.
The petition states that “Bin Salman, as the supreme leader, is guilty of murder, torture, rape, extortion, unlawful detention, unlawful prosecution and the death penalty, that is, crimes against humanity defined by article 7 of the Rome Statute of the International Tribunal.”
"The victims were chosen according to their opposition to the cruel tyranny of the crown prince," he said.
The petition was filed on behalf of an unidentified human rights organization whose identity was withheld when the petition was filed.
It is not clear whether the Hague-based court will respond to this petition, as it has exclusive jurisdiction over crimes committed on the territory of its member states, and Saudi Arabia and Turkey are not members of the court.
Khashoggi, a well-known and respected journalist, was a resident of the United States and a columnist for The Washington Post.He devoted several of his articles to criticizing bin Salman's domestic and international policies, including the Saudi-led coalition war in Yemen.
In the weeks following his assassination, the Saudi government denied that he had been killed in its consulate, insisting that he left shortly after his arrival, but after Turkish officials exchanged information about the murder with local and international media, Riyadh changed its account and admitted that he had been killed by a team of Saudi agents "Rogue".
Under international pressure, the Saudi prosecutor opened an investigation into the murder and 11 suspects were brought to trial in the kingdom. The prosecutor demanded the death penalty for five of the defendants.
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International crime
"The killing of Mr. Khashoggi constitutes an international crime within the limits of universal jurisdiction," said UN expert on extrajudicial executions Agnes Kalamar, who led an independent investigation into Khashoggi's murder in June.
The investigation concluded that the events that led to the killing of Khashoggi constituted abductions, torture and enforced disappearances, all violations of international law.
Therefore, Kalamar confirmed that "there is credible evidence that requires further investigation into the individual responsibility of Saudi officials, including the Crown Prince."
In an interview on CBS's "60 Minutes" talk show aired on Sunday, bin Salman denied that he had personally ordered the killing of Khashoggi, but acknowledged full responsibility for it as the country's leader. "It was a heinous crime but I take responsibility," Complete as a leader in Saudi Arabia. "
"Under the standards of international criminal law and as stipulated in the Rome Statute, bin Salman is responsible for the crime because of the tremendous powers he enjoys within Saudi Arabia," lawyer Bruce Finn, whose office appealed to the ICC, told Al Jazeera.
He added that bin Salman, as a person familiar with every significant matter in Saudi Arabia, must know of the plans for this killing, even if it is not oversaw the thugs who carried out the operation, noting that bin Salman, even if not the one who ordered the killing, the law Puts him at risk of responsibility.
According to Finn, bin Salman is responsible for "failing to take bold measures to punish and hold accountable those involved in this crime."
Saudi expert Ali al-Ahmad believes a possible court case could damage bin Salman's international and domestic credibility.
"Once bin Salman feels that the international community ignores him, it will weaken him inside Saudi Arabia, especially among the royal contenders or strong military commanders," he said.
While acknowledging the petition that the ICC has no territorial jurisdiction over Saudi Arabia as a signatory to the Rome Statute, the petition recommends that it proceed from two rules that could make the Court empowered to consider the case.
First, there is a precedent for the UN Security Council in 2005 to refer a case concerning Darfur in Sudan, and to refer a case involving Libya in 2011 to the court, although neither country is a signatory to the Rome Statute.
Second, the petition also speaks of the case of Faisal al-Jarba, a Saudi national who was detained by Jordanian intelligence officers in Jordan and then forcibly extradited to Saudi agents in 2018.
Since Jordan is a member of the International Criminal Court, the Court can exercise jurisdiction over crimes on its territory, and the petition considers that the abduction of Jarba amounts to a crime against humanity.
A Jordanian government spokeswoman declined to respond to a request for comment on the case.
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The investigation is unlikely
Kevin John Heller, a professor of international law at the University of Amsterdam, is unlikely that this petition will lead to an ICC investigation with bin Salman or anyone else in the Saudi government, noting that the United States may veto the UN Security Council, To prevent any referral of a key Middle East ally to the ICC.
"There is no legal reason why the Security Council could not refer Khashoggi's murder to court, although cases have been referred to this court (Libya and Darfur), not individual crimes," he said.
However, it is almost certain that any attempt to bring Khashoggi's murder to court would be hindered by Washington's veto to abort it.
But Hiller expects the petition to lead to a renewed international focus on the allegations surrounding Mohammed bin Salman.
"Such interest may actually deter him from committing other crimes, which in itself is a positive result even if he has never been tried for the killing of Khashoggi himself."
Although Finn understands that the case has faced many political and legal obstacles, he believes that these circumstances can change in the future.
"Even if the issue seems far off at the moment, bin Salman may not be in power within a year or two from now," he says.
"This petition and Kalamar's conclusion may then occur things that were not taken into account that could make things that seem to be disrupted at the moment be resoundingly possible in the independent."